The fonds consists of records related to British Columbia politician and judge Alexander Malcolm Manson's life. The records in this fonds encompass all aspects of Manson's life and were produced both through his career and in his personal life. Notably, the fonds contains extensive records from Manson's political career, his judicial career, and the investments and trusts he managed. Many areas of Manson's life overlapped considerably, including overlapping careers, and records related to one area of his life may be found among records related to another area.

The contents of this fonds consist predominantly of correspondence, including carbon copies of correspondence sent by Manson. This correspondence pertains both to Manson's career as well as to various parts of his personal life and has been arranged according to the file names used by Manson wherever possible; correspondence that has not otherwise been sorted by Manson has been sorted as "general correspondence," a designation which also includes personal correspondence. Other types of records in this fonds include meeting minutes, court proceedings, financial statements, newspaper clippings, governmental reports, shareholder reports, certificates, invitations and event programmes, and photographs.

The fonds has been arranged into eight series: legal career; political career; judicial career; finances; personal life; Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; general correspondence; and photographs, scrapbooks, and ephemera.

The fonds consists of three certificates of graduation from the University of London Slade School of Fine Arts, a photograph (1905) of Davies in her childhood and a manuscript notebook written in the 1930s filled with observations about wildlife in British Columbia.

The fonds consists of typescript memoirs of Kirby's experience as an English tutor in Russia. The memoirs chronicle life in Russia from 1879 to 1883 and also the subsequent experiences of one of the Alexieff children, Princess Vera Urusov, who suffered tremendous personal hardships during the Russian Revolution.

The fonds consists mainly of subject files created by Anthony Gargrave in his work as a CCF MLA for the riding of Mackenzie, British Columbia, 1952-1958. Some of the subject areas include forestry, fishing, parks, education, municipal affairs, and Indian affairs.

The fonds consists of twenty-four incoming letters received by Walsh while at the Inkameep Indian Day School (1936-1941).

The fonds consists of diaries, scrapbooks, and correspondence spanning the period 1910-2003 and related to the professional and personal lives of three generations of the Bamford family—William Blackley Bamford, his son William Blackley Stanley Bamford, and his grandson William Huestis Bamford—as well as to members of the Lasell and Ord families, related by marriage to William Huestis Bamford. Diaries in the fonds include concise “five year” or “line a day” diaries, as well as more detailed daily journals and many cover aspects of the Bamfords’ professional and personal life.

Scrapbooks in the fonds, which contain newspaper clippings, ephemera, correspondence, photographs, notes, and other material, primarily reflect the Bamfords’ personal interests, but also interests their chosen professions and employers, including the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and the Bank of Montreal. Beyond the incoming and outgoing personal and professional correspondence included in the scrapbooks, the Esther Adelina Lasell Bamford series contains incoming correspondence related to a branch of the Ord family living in New Zealand.

The fonds is arranged into four series by family member: William Blackley Bamford; William Blackley Stanley Bamford; William Huestis Bamford; and Esther Adelina Lasell Bamford.

The fonds consists of 22.89 m of textual records, ca. 2650 photographs and extensive audiovisual materials created and/or accumulated by the British Columbia History of Nursing Society (BCHNS). The BCHNS Archives established and organized records into broad groups: fonds/subfonds, collections, biographical files, oral histories and miscellaneous materials. These categories of records have been arranged as subfonds and series under the BCHNS fonds.

Materials related to the society include records created by the group in the course of its administrative activities, and accumulated in its function of preserving material related to the history of nursing in British Columbia and elsewhere. Much of the material has a historical value, both in regard to B.C. nursing, and farther afield. A brief history of the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia is included. While there are some earlier records, most date from 1985 to 2012. The records of several committees that made annual reports to the BCHNPPG are included. For example, the Oral History Committee was established in 1981 to document the development of nursing and to capture some of the stories and activities of B.C. nurses. The Memorial Nursing Portrait Collection committee was established in 1990 to raise money for the History of Nursing Scholarship fund and to provide a lasting visual memorial for a friend or family member. Histories of hospitals and individuals are also documented. Events, programs and displays are documented through graphic, audio and textual material. Reference material includes newsletters, records related to Florence Nightingale and the roles played by nurses in war. Postcards and other historical materials more generally related to nursing are also included. Fundraising initiatives, and financial records are also included along with membership information and activities.

Records not related to the formation and ongoing functions of the B.C. History of Nursing Society are divided into 35 subfonds. While the subfonds do not generally relate to specific functions of the BCHNS, they all contribute to a general understanding of individuals and groups of nurses who have contributed to the development of nursing in British Columbia. Many individuals are represented in more than one area of the larger fonds.

The original collections consist of 5.6 m of textual records and graphic materials, audiovisual material and an extensive reference library. The textual records include a comprehensive collection of UBC student cards from 1921 to 1994, several diplomas and certificates, and conference related materials. Records from the Kootenay Lake Hospital, the Kelowna General Hospital and the Prince Rupert General Hospital consist of nursing manuals, training schedules and ledgers. Extensive photographs document historical and educational displays prepared and presented by the BCHNS. Many audiovisual materials contain records created by the Society or provide general reference information. The reference library contains books concentrating primarily on B.C nursing and will be catalogued and made available separately.

Biographical files consist of 2.4 m of textual records and ca. 382 photographs related to nurses who have made significant contributions to their profession in British Columbia. Files include records related to the person’s life and career, photographs, copies of publications, memories and biographical information and other records relating to nursing activities in B.C. An item level contents list is located at the front of each file. A full index of the files, which includes a brief biography of each subject and the file contents is available in RBSC-ARC-1831-102-15.

The oral histories consists of recordings on ca. 320 audio cassettes, 72 CDs and related textual records. These interviews date from 1987 to 2013 and are arranged alphabetically by the subject’s last name. Many interviews exist in multiple formats or have multiple cassettes and/or CDs. A small portion of interviews of high quality and enduring interest have been copied to MP3 format, these materials will be made available upon request. Hard copy summaries are arranged alphabetically in this series. A detailed index of all the oral histories is located in RBSC-ARC-1831-013-13, which includes interviewer and interviewee names, topics discussed, date of recording and other relevant information.

The original 34 subfonds have been retained and arranged as such under the BCHNS fonds. A 2022 accrual added the Richmond-Delta Professional Practice Group subfonds. Records of the society are arranged in the following series:

1. Formation of the BCHNPPG
2. Annual General Membership Meeting files
3. Committee records
4. BCHNPPG chapter groups
5. Events, programs and displays
6. BCHNPG fundraising
7. History of the RNABC and its membership
8. RNABC
9. Published and reference material
10. Artifacts
11. Financial records
12. [Original Collections]
13. [Biographical Files]
14. [Oral Histories]
15. [Artifacts]

The records of this fonds were created by the Boag Foundation offices. Contents include historical files, administrative records, accounting and financial documents and project files relating to the activities of the foundation.

The fonds reflects the efforts of Bob Williams’ political and business career. Records in the fonds relate to Williams’s various roles: teacher, M.L.A., community planning consultant, Minister, chair of ICBC, and Secretary of Crown Corporations. As such, the records relate both to Williams’ personal career as well as British Columbia's governmental systems of resource management, transportation, forestry, energy, housing, and recreation. Correspondence is featured throughout the fonds; other records types include reports, studies, speeches, notes, legal agreements, bills, acts, notebooks, daily journals, travel memorabilia, presentation materials, photographs, VHS tapes, audio cassettes, optical discs, news clippings, scrapbooks, and transcripts of interviews. The fonds is comprised of four series; Alderman and Member of Legislative Assembly records, Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Water Resources Records series, Crown Corporations Records series, and Business, Personal, and Academic Records series.

The Alderman and Member of Legislative Assembly Records consists of material related to Williams' roles as Alderman of the City of Vancouver and later as M.L.A. for East Vancouver. Records include letters, faxes, telegrams, newspaper clippings, reports, speeches, notes and other related material.

The Ministry of Forests Lands and Water Resources Records series relates to Williams's time spent on the provincial cabinet working under the government of Dave Barret. Records consist primarily of correspondence, especially between Williams and major corporations and individuals in the forest industry. Other records include reports, studies, news clippings, bills and acts, speeches, presentation materials, and transcripts.

The Crown Corporations records series is comprised of documents stemming from Williams' activities as chair of ICBC, and his work in the Crown Corporations. Many records relate to the construction of Surrey City Centre. Record types include correspondence, reports, legal documents, and news clippings.

The Business, Personal and Academic Records series contains records related Williams’ business career, personal memories and diaries, pictures and travel memorabilia, and his experiences meeting other politicians. Record types include planning consultant studies, correspondence, interviews, and materials from his academic career including course outlines and reading lists.

Fonds consists of slides, clippings, correspondence, and other documents related to the building of the Carpentry Training Centre in Nicaragua and the development of a carpentry training program. Included are documents related to the hiring of instructors and to financial and material donations to the project, as well as pamphlets from various organisations involved in solidarity efforts with Nicaragua, and materials providing background information about the political and socio-economic situation in Nicaragua during the 1980s.

The Bush Family collection consists of records and objects gathered by various family members on specific holidays or during special occasions. George and Pearl Bush contributed memorabilia related to their family’s settlement in Vancouver, their vacations in Europe and the United States, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the city of Vancouver, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and the country of Canada. Some records and objects commemorating the Dominion of Canada and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company feature racist depictions of Indigenous peoples. Items originating with George and Pearl date from the early to mid-twentieth century.

Patrick Bush contributed memorabilia related to his studies at the University of British Columbia, particularly his graduation and his membership in the Sigma Epsilon chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity. Records originating with Patrick Bush date from the mid to late 1950s.

Records are arranged by subject in files. For example, all memorabilia related to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company is aggregated, as are records of Patrick Bush’s university attendance. Documentary forms include invitations and programs to UBC fraternity events; UBC fraternity decals; UBC convocation programs; copies of Patrick Bush’s university transcripts; instructions for participating in a UBC convocation; various hand-drawn maps of the U.S.S.R., likely prepared by Patrick Bush for a university course; Patrick Bush’s Bachelor of Laws degree; a single issue of UBC Alumni Chronicle (1985); blank and handwritten postcards depicting the United States and Europe; commemorative ephemera celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, including a menu, church service order, and booklet; black and white family photographs; souvenir booklets containing photographs and illustrations of famous scenes in Europe and the United States; tickets for tourist attractions and transit in Europe; information booklets about tourist attractions and sites in Europe; maps for parts of Europe; menus from various cruise ships; Royal Automobile Club route cards; information booklets about Canada, the province of British Columbia, and the city of Vancouver; maps of various parts of British Columbia; a BC Emergency Air Service decal; a poster commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Vancouver (circa 1936); various correspondence addressed to George Bush, including postcards; travel ephemera from Patrick Bush; preliminary lists of electors, including Patrick Bush, as compiled by Elections Canada for the district of Vancouver Centre in 1979; black and white photographs and negatives depicting members of the extended Bush family; Canadian Pacific Railway company employee photographs, voyage programs and menus, sailing listings, promotional tour pamphlets and booklets, steamship passenger lists, log book abstracts, monogrammed envelopes, voyage guest feedback forms, staff bulletins, gazettes (newspapers), and ship deck plans; photocopies of various Vancouver and London, England newspapers featuring articles about members of the Bush family; a decorative leather wall hanging belonging to George Bush; a matchbox; and a coaster.

The contents of the fonds pertain to the life and work of Crawford Kilian. Materials include research and planning for novels, published and unpublished manuscripts, originals of published columns, personal and professional correspondence and appointment books. The focuses of Kilian’s writing are science fiction, educational systems and teaching, cultural issues and history, the economy, the environment, and technological developments, specifically the Internet. Writing material included in this fonds ranges from the 1960’s to the 2000’s. Other included material relates to Kilian’s time spent in China as an English teacher. The type of material in the fonds is primarily handwritten and typed paper records, but also includes newspaper, compact discs and publications.

This fonds consists of records related to Darryl Adams' activities as a political and social justice activist as well as his personal life. The fonds consists of three series: personal life and administrative records; activism involvement series; and activism collections series.

Records relating to the first series, Adams' personal life and administrative files include: personal correspondence received by Adams; photographs collected, taken of or by Adams'; school records and club memberships memorabilia; news clippings and other articles; and work related records such as research materials and correspondence.

Records relating to the second series, the activism involvement series, include material created or used by groups that Adams was involved in such as the Vancouver American Exiles Association (VAEA), as well as the Galindo Madrid Case of the 1970s. These records include meeting minutes; correspondence; conference, seminar, and workshop materials; materials by or about other communist, socialist, or leftist organizations; papers, articles, speeches, critiques, letters, and reports on related topics; ephemera and publications, such as newsletters, journals, and clippings; and sound recordings such as interviews Adams' gave on behalf of VAEA.

The last series consists of three major collections that Adams obtained over his lifetime. The first collection is the lefty literature collection that consists of newspapers, magazines, periodicals, booklets and bulletins, and other publications related to leftist themes. The second collection is a poster collection and the last collection is a button collection.

The fonds consists of records relating to the education, research, career, and post-retirement activities of David Narver. The fonds is organized into three series: Postdoctoral Education; Career; and Personal. The Postdoctoral Education series includes records related to Narver’s PhD research while enrolled at the University of Washington. Narver worked as a researcher at the Canadian Fisheries Research Board Biological Station in Nanaimo, BC, and in Chignik, Alaska, working on salmon research projects. The Career series covers records related to Narver’s three-decade career. Narver worked for the BC Ministry of Environment, Fisheries Branch and Fish and Wildlife Branch, as Anadromous Fisheries Coordinator, Acting Chief of Fisheries Management, and Director of the Fisheries Branch. Records in the Career series include speeches and presentations, official correspondence, policy and administrative records (including meeting minutes), and research reports. The Personal series includes records related to Narver’s undergraduate or graduate post-secondary education, speeches and presentations given after his retirement, and a manuscript of his account of his time in Alaska. Narver remained active in fish, fishing, and fish habitat work after his retirement, working with the BC Wildlife Federation among other organizations.

The fonds consists of academic materials and writings, prose, poetry, incoming and outgoing correspondence with family, especially his mother, Viola Fraser (nee Huggan), friends and co-workers; colour and black & white photographs portraying a variety of subjects; posters, notebooks, printed materials such as newspaper clippings and serials, and a variety of other ephemera created and/or collected and/or used by Fraser in Vancouver.

Fonds includes 8 notebooks, 7 of which are manuscripts of lecture notes taken by the Doctor’s father, also named Jacob Edwin Brouse, while studying at McGill University between 1858 and 1961. The last item, an appointment book created in 1898, shows records of Brouse’s hospital patients after opening the Slocan Hospital.

The fonds consists of a photograph album received from graduating students of Glenmere High School, Slocan City, 1946. Fonds includes photographs and cards mounted in the album.

Fonds reflects E.M. Delafield's career and interests as a writer and lecturer in the early decades of the twentieth century. Some of the items in the fonds were also made or received by persons related to E.M. Delafield. Textual records in the fonds consist of letters related to Delafield's research and writing on the British author Charlotte Yonge and unpublished manuscripts, plays, short articles, book reviews, and lectures written by Delafield pertaining to her interests in Charlotte Yonge, women, religion, the lives of the British upper class, and other subjects. The fonds also includes clippings, obituary notices, photographs, and records related to the writings of Lorna Lewis. Fonds consists of seven series: Incoming letters; Manuscripts; Lecture notes; Newspaper clippings; Personal photographs; Records related to Lorna Lewis; and Outgoing letters.

The records of Gary Lauk and his Executive Assistants Eric Green and Albert Mellul, are described in this finding aid. They were created in the course of the operations of the Minister's Office during the New Democratic Party (NDP) administration of government. The majority of the material pertains to Lauk's term of office as the Minister of Economic Development (1973-75), Minister of Mines and Petroleum Resources (October - December, 1975), and as Education Critic (1976-1982). Some material predates Lauk's appointment and relates to his responsibilities as a MLA.

Much of the material given in the initial donation deals with the direction given to the Department of Economic Development in its activities of promoting the economic development and diversification of BC while much of the material in the subsequent donation deals with the Education sector in BC from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. Other records deal with the Lauk's communications with the British Columbia Cabinet and with the NDP party of Canada. A smaller amount of material relates to Lauk's role as a member of the NDP Caucus and the MLA for Vancouver Centre and a few files are of a personal nature.

The records have been arranged into three series: MLA for the Governing Party; Executive assistant to Lauk; and MLA for the Official Opposition Party. Within the first series are subseries of government department and subject files, as well as outgoing correspondence and Printed reference material. In addition, a subseries titled General government files, has been created of the documents that accumulated unfiled, while Lauk was Minister of Mines and during the provincial election.

The Executive Assistant to Lauk series contains two subseries: Subject files and Outgoing correspondence.

The MLA for the Official Opposition Party series contains Lauk's records that he acquired and/or accumulated during the time period from 1976-1985. The series contains four subseries including Education Critic; Subject files; Correspondence; and General government files.

The records largely consist of typewritten documents, such as correspondence, memoranda, briefings, minutes and itineraries. The records also contain printed materials such as press kits, new releases, brochures, newsletters, and newsclippings. Also included are a substantial amount of published and unpublished studies, reports, and proposals produced by the Department of Economic Development or by the other government departments and non-governmental agencies. The non-textual materials include an album of colour photoprints of the BC government's delegation trip to Japan, which Lauk was a part of, as well as a number of loose colour and black and white photoprints.

The fonds also contains correspondence files of Leo Nimsick (1972-1973), Lauk's predecessor as Minister of Mines and Petroleum. Lauk acquired these papers when he was appointed Minister.

Fonds consists primarily of Parrott's criticism of D.E. Harker's history of St. George's School, Vancouver, entitled Saints. Parrott's notes and letters on the development of the school add a new dimension to the information found in the official history. Many letters contain correspondence to Anne Yandel, the former Head of Special Collections at UBC Library, and George Brandak, the Manuscripts Curator at the UBC Library. Also included in the fonds are documents related to Parrott’s status as a Canadian citizen.

The fonds consists of textual records, photographs, and audiovisual materials, spanning the period 1905-2001, related primarily to Gordon Goichi Nakayama’s career with the Anglican Church of Canada and missionary work, religious and secular research and writing projects (the latter primarily related to Japanese internment and the Japanese Canadian community), as well and his personal and family life and administrative affairs. The fonds is arranged by function and documentary form. The fonds consists of eight series: Personal and administrative records and correspondence; clippings and ephemera; photographs; writings and publications; diaries; notes and notebooks; church and missionary work records; and audio-visual materials

Records related to Nakayama’s roles with the Anglican Church in Vancouver, B.C., and Coaldale, Alta., and his global missionary work include travel documents and itineraries; incoming and outgoing correspondence; church financial records and reports; church publications and parishioner lists; licenses and certificates; conference materials; clippings and ephemera; diaries; notes and notebooks; and other materials.

Records relating to Nakayama’s religious and secular research and writing projects include manuscript and typescript drafts, as well as final published versions, of religious and biographical / autobiographical works, non-fiction works on the Japanese Canadian / Issei community, and poetry, as well as supporting materials, such as publishers’ contracts and correspondence and research materials.

Records related to Nakayama’s personal and family life and administrative affairs includes incoming and outgoing correspondence; address books and directories; maps; photographs; calligraphy and paintings on shikishi; medical records; travel documents and citizenship records; pension records; records and correspondence related to redress; legal documents; certificates, licenses, and membership cards; property and real estate records; banking and financial records; educational records; biographical information; clippings (many related to Joy Kogawa’s writing career), ephemera, and scrapbooks; notes and notebooks; and other materials.

Audio-visual materials consist of two films on three 16 mm film reels on the subject of World War II and Japanese culture.

The fonds consists of records relating to Charlesworth's tenure as secretary of the BCTF and member of the WFEA. His philosophy of education is related in his personal diary, drafts of addresses, and typescripts of two World Federation speeches, "The World Federation of Education Association: Its Past Work and Future Plans" and "Educational Frontiers of the New World."

Fonds consists of records relating to Dr. Harry Mark Draggatt's philatelic interests and contains biographical information about Dr. Daggett including his birth certificate, grade school and high school report cards, University Diplomas, and a number of photographs. The fonds is made up of three series as determined by the creator. The series are Literature Study Group, BA Clips, and Personal.

The fonds consists of records related to Thomas's activities as a politician, UBC professor, and community activist.
The fonds is arranged into series based on Thomas's activities. Records relating to the NDP have been divided into the New Democratic Party of Canada series, the New Democratic Party of British Columbia, Point Grey series and the New Democratic Party Vancouver Area Council series. There are also separate New Democratic Party Participation of Women Committee and New Democratic Party of British Columbia Standing Committee on Women's Rights series.
The fonds also contains records related to Thomas's activism in many areas. Thomas was an active member of many activist organizations, and these organizations comprise the Committee to Defend Political Prisoners in Quebec series, the Endowment Lands Regional Park Committee series, the BC Federation of Labour series, the Women's Selection Committee for Women's Health Advisory Committee to the Vancouver Health Board series, and the BC Federation of Women series.
Thomas also kept subject files and correspondence related to her activism that included material from several organizations, or from none. These records have been grouped into series based on the subject, including the Vietnam War series, the Women and Peace series, the Human Rights series, the Feminism Subject Files series, the Anti-nuclear war subject file series and the Labour Activities subject file series.
The fonds contains records from Thomas's time as a professor in the University of British Columbia series. Student essays written by Thomas are in the Student essays series. Thomas's research on Malcolm Lowry comprises a separate series.
Finally the fonds contains the Everywoman's Health Centre series.

Fonds consist of records relating to the organization and operation of the History Articulation Committee, the activities of Dr. Robert A.J. MacDonald as Chairman of the History Articulation Committee and the involvement of Professor William A. Sloan as a representative of Selkirk College and secretary of the HAC. Records include incoming and outgoing correspondence, memos, minutes of meetings, reports, handbooks, newsletters, conference schedules, and newspaper clippings about curriculum and college transfer related issues.

The fonds in arranged into three series: Operational files (1969-2001); Chairman files (1982-1893); and the Secretary files (1969-1999).

Fonds consists of documents spanning Bunce’s career in the forestry sector, covering both his paid and volunteer work. The bulk of the material relates to his work as a forestry consultant at Reid, Collins & Associates and his work on several national forestry committees. Additional material relates to his years as a graduate student, his early career, his involvement with various professional associations, and his years as part owner of a woodlot near Maple Ridge, BC. Also included are articles he published and notes from presentations that he gave.

The archivist removed some documents that had come with the original donation, but that did not have significant value. These included duplicates, published material available elsewhere, personal documents (such as hotel reservations and journal subscription receipts), and loose documents that had no context. Also removed were documents that contained personal and/or confidential information, such as school transcripts of individuals besides Bunce and private documents of company's for whom Bunce did consulting work.

Some works that Bunce had collected, but not authored, were removed from this fonds and added to the library’s general collection.

The fonds consists of family documents (passports, U.S. education degrees), some correspondence regarding his initial business and photographs of the family entering Canada, their home in Vancouver, and the universities in the U.S. where family members were educated.

The fonds consists of diaries, photographs, and correspondence of Janet Jenkins. The photographs parallel the diaries and correspondence in documenting her life. Also included is a postscript to the diaries written by her husband, Trevor Jenkins in 1991.

The fonds consists of records produced by Jim Wong-Chu, records associated with Jim Wong-Chu's involvement in various cultural and artistic communities in Vancouver, British Columbia, San Francisco, California, and other areas in the northwestern United States and Canada.

In particular, the fonds includes records related to: Canadian cultural and literary communities; Asian Canadian writers; social justice and historical issues related to discrimination of Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups; and Canada and Vancouver's Chinese and other Asian cultural communities.

The fonds has been arranged into the following 9 series: Asian American communities; Asian Canadian communities; Asian Canadian Writers Workshop; Correspondence; Go for Broke Festivals; Manuscripts; Personal works; Personal Records; Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society; and Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre.

In addition to the series listed above, there is one sub-fonds which includes records created by Garrick Chu, a close-friend and colleague of Jim Wong-Chu.

The main types of records within the fonds include correspondence, meeting minutes, schedules, manuscripts, posters and event flyers, photographs, event programs, financial statements and budgets, publications and articles, reports, conference proceedings, and speeches.

The fonds consists of the incoming correspondence to Joan Gillis from a group of young Japanese Canadians she met while attending Queen Elizabeth Secondary School in Surrey. The fonds includes 149 letters and 10 small photographs, referred to colloquially as ‘snaps’ in the letters, sent from a total of 13 different correspondents. The majority of the correspondence took place during 1942 to 1946, with different friends writing from farms and work camps in Northern British Columbia, Manitoba, and Alberta. The letters provide insight into the Japanese Canadian internment, which occurred against the backdrop of a larger cultural context. Since the early 1900s Japanese immigrants and persons of Japanese descent living in Canada were subject to racially targeted legislation, including limits on immigration, limits on fishing licenses, and being denied the right to vote based on racial status.

In the spring of 1941 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) fingerprinted and registered all Japanese Canadians over the age 16, who were required to carry identification cards until 1949. Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, Canada declared war on Japan. The Royal Canadian Navy impounded the fishing boats of the Japanese Canadian fishing community, and within two months 1,200 Japanese Canadian owned boats were sold. On February 24th 1942 the federal government authorized the removal of all persons of Japanese origin, and gave the RCMP the power to search without warrant, to impose a dawn to dusk curfew, and to confiscate all cars, radios, firearms, and cameras. Mass forced dispersal and dispossession ensued, with all Japanese Canadians being sent to internment camps, to work on farms, and perform other forms of hard labor, living in very poor conditions through the much colder winters of Canada’s interior.
The letter-writers discuss their day-to-day life at the camps, living and working conditions, their new schools and teachers, and ask after Gillis’ life in Surrey and the on-goings at Queen Elizabeth (Q.E.) secondary school.
Gillis kept the correspondence bound in twine or ribbon, which is also included in the fonds. A government censor opened and read many, if not all of the letters, and many of the envelopes bear a sticker or stamp marking this. Many of the letters are hand-written, some are typed, and some are written on postcards. Listed at the file level is the full name of each correspondent and his or her specific geographical location.

The fonds consists of a typed manuscript of Morgan's University of British Columbia graduating essay (1931), notes, speeches, press clippings and printed material related to socialism in Canada. It also includes a series of press clippings written by Morgan under the pseudonym "Geordie" ca. 1940.